Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Richard Powell

74^th OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: Fall & Winter, 1861/'62
Mustered In: March, 1862 (est.)
Mustered Out: 7/10/1865 Louisville, KY

REGIMENTAL HISTORY:
 

The 74^th Ohio was a three year infantry regiment. It spent its period of service in the western theater of the American Civil War (ACW).
 

Organized at Columbus, Enon, Xenia, Hamilton and Cincinnati the unit was ordered to Nashville, TN in April, 1862. It spent the summer of '62 performing detail duty around Tennessee.
 

The 74^th’s first battle was Stone's River, TN (12/31/1862 - 1/2/1863). It entered that conflict on 12/31 and remained in it until nightfall of 1/2. On 1/2 it was one of the regiments ordered to charge across the river. It went into battle with three hundred eighty effective men of whom it lost one hundred nine killed and wounded with another forty six captured.
 

In 1863 during Union movements around Chattanooga, TN the 74^th participated in the battles of Hoover's Gap (6/24 - 26) and Chickamauga, GA (9/18 - 20). It also participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain (11/24/1863) and Missionary Ridge (11/25/1863).
 

During the winter of 1863/'64 a majority of the men of the 74^th re-enlisted as veteran volunteers. Thirty day furloughs followed.
 

Returning to the field in April, 1864 the 74^th joined the Federal advance upon Atlanta, GA. At Buzzard's Roost Gap (5/9/1864) it lost sixteen killed and wounded. At Resaca (5/13 - 15) another nine were killed and wounded. At Kennesaw Mountain (6/27 +) it was under continuous fire for two weeks. It was also engaged at Peachtree Creek (7/20) and in front of Atlanta (7/22). At Jonesboro (8/31 - 9/1) the 74^th made three distinct charges losing fourteen killed and twenty five wounded. In all, the regiment lost eighteen killed and eighty eight wounded during the Atlanta Campaign.
 

After the fall of Atlanta the 74^th moved through Georgia with the forces of Union Gen. William T. Sherman and, with the onset of 1865, marched northward through the Carolinas. It experienced heavy skirmishing at Averysboro (3/16) and at Bentonville (3/19 - 21) which was the unit's final battle.
 

The 74^th was mustered into the history books on 7/10/1865.
 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 2; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 2; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded:  51; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  105.

SOLDIER:
Residence: Inf. Not Avail.   Age: 24.1 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 2/10/1862   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 2/10/1862
Mustered Out: Inf. Not Avail.
Discharged: 5/16/1865
Highest Rank: 1^st Lieut. /Adjutant
Rank At Discharge: 1^st Lieut.

PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:
 

NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of Richard Powell was created in April, 2022 near the end of the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________Richard Farrar Powell was born on 12/25/1837. The place of his birth was in the country of England. It appears that during 1848 Richard came to America with his parents.

The only parental documentation available indicates that our Richard's father, who was born in England, was also named Richard.  Richard, Sr.'s English-born wife - our Richard's mother - is not identified. Also not documented are the names of possible siblings.
 

Where in the U.S. the Powell’s initially settled is an unknown. By February, 1862, however, when Richard enlisted in the U.S. Army, at least he was residing in the state of Ohio.
 

Richard's military career was meteorically successful. Enlisting as a private soldier in the 74^th Ohio Infantry, by June of '62 he had risen to the rank of corporal. By 2/6/1863 he had been promoted not just to the rank of sergeant, but that of sergeant major which is the highest rank attainable by an enlisted man. This promotion prompted his transfer from Co. "H" to regimental "Field & Staff."
 

From being sergeant major Richard moved back to company "H" at the commissioned officer rank of second lieutenant (3/21/1864). After that, (10/12/1864) he became  first lieutenant of Co. "H" and, finally, transferred  back to Field and Staff as the 74^th’s regimental Adjutant. Although available records are not clear on the matter, at War's end he may have been with Co. "G" as that unit's first lieutenant.
 

Military service behind him, Richard returned to Ohio. There, on 6/22/1865 in the community of Coshocton he married.
 

Richard's bride was Maria Ellen "Nellie" Everal. Maria, the name she also was known by, had been born on 2/6/1848 in Ohio. How, when and where the two had met are unknowns, but as with Richard's parents, both her mother and father had been birthed in England.

During their years together - as best as can be determined - Richard and Maria/Nellie produced only one child. Born during 1867 in Ohio, that child was a son they named Ulysses Grant Powell.
 

The 1870 U.S. Census found the Powells farming in or near the community of Adams located in Coshocton County, OH. A decade later, Richard and family were still in Ohio, but by then residing in the Clinton County community of Jefferson. In Jefferson, Richard was no longer farming. Instead he was "a minister of the gospel." No faith or denomination is documented.
 

By the dawn of the twentieth century the Powell’s - by way of Otoe County, NB - had travelled to Seattle King County, WA. What had drawn the family to the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest is not known, but here - on 5/4/1900 - tragedy struck.  Maria/Nellie, at age fifty two, died suddenly from apoplexy (uncontrolled bleeding of the brain).  Today, the condition is familiarly known as a "stroke." Her burial was/is in Seattle’s Grand Army Of the Republic (G.A.R.) Cemetery located near the north end of that city's Capitol Hill.
 

As for Richard, the 1900 census found the widower clergyman boarding in the Seattle home of one William Holt and his wife.
 

On 8/15/1901 in Victoria British Columbia, Canada Richard remarried. His second wife was Lydia Alice Coning. Lydia, whose father was born in Canada and her mother in New York, was birthed during 1863 in the state of Wisconsin. Again, when, how and where the couple had met are unknowns.
 

After marrying, Richard and Lydia settled in Seattle. They produced one child. That child, a son they named Archibald Farrer Powell, was Seattle born on 8/9/1902.
 

Richard Farrar Powell died 8/15/1910 at his 3223 Graham St. home in Seattle. Cause of the 72.7 year old deputy clerk’s death was listed as "angina pectoria." (heart disease). Burial was in Seattle's G.A.R. Cemetery with Maria/Nellie.
 

On 5/11/1885 Richard had applied for and been granted a U.S. Government disability pension based on his days of Civil War soldiering. Without accessing his pension records the financial details of his monthly stipend remain unknown. However, upon his death, with a young son to be cared for, on 8/31/1910 at least a portion of that pension was transferred to Archibald. Then, on 1/7/1918 with Archibald having attained adulthood, the monies transferred again, this time to his mother, Richard's second wife, Lydia.
 

Following her husband's passing it appears Lydia remained in Seattle. Although her name has not been located in U.S. Census tallies for 1920 and 1930, she was noted as living there in 1940.
 

Lydia died 7/12/1945 in Portland, OR. Son Archibald had married in Vancouver, Clark County, WA on 3/29/1924, so it is surmised that she had moved down to the Vancouver / Portland area to live out her life near  with her only child and his family. Lydia was/is buried in Lincoln Memorial Park located in Portland, Multnomah County, OR.

POSTED: 4/26/2022
UPDATED:

Buried at Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Seattle
Site: 508